The Gaggle : In Italy for the G-8, Obama Turns to Climate Change

...But several countries are still not on board, including India and China. At the G-20, Obama raised the issue with leaders from both countries, hoping to woo them through diplomacy.

But as Obama prepares to meet with G-8 leaders on the subject, the White House seemed to downplay movement on the issue here at the summit. Briefing reporters on Air Force One en route to Italy, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to say whether Obama would endorse the drafted G-8 statement on climate reduction goals. He suggested they are focused more on getting a bill through Congress, not on what an international summit can accomplish. "I think in many ways success for us is going to be getting something through Congress and to his desk that puts in place a system, market-based system, that lessens the amount of greenhouse gases in the air,” Gibbs said.

CapitalClimate: DC: Decisively Cool in First Week of July

With a daily high matching the long-term normal of 88°, Washington DC is closing out a very cool first week of July. The monthly average so far of 73.5°, if continued through the month, would put this July firmly in the top 10 coolest. The current average is just 0.1° ahead of the third place holder, 1888. The coolest July of this century has been the one in 2000; at an average of 74.7°, it's tied with 1909 for tenth place, ahead of all but 2 other years in the 20th Century, 1904 and 1918, both at 74.4°.

Twittering coal execs snagged by journalist | CEJournal

Take this Tweet from Don Blankenship of Massey Energy: “Only pompous pols could think of such a bill,” referring to the climate and energy legislation that has passed the House and is now being considered in the Senate.

[Allegedly] Warm conditions [allegedly] speed summer melt of Arctic sea ice | CEJournal

Climate skeptics continue to claim that global warming has given way to significant cooling, but new data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center suggest that the Arctic is not paying attention.

NSIDC is reporting that warm temperatures in parts of the Arctic region, combined with warm southerly winds, contributed to rapid melting of ice in June. Sea ice shrinkage is to be expected in June, when the sun hovers highest above the Arctic region. But over the long term the ice extent during the month has been getting smaller and smaller — by more than 3 percent each year.